Here’s how to enjoy gardenia at its perfumey best.
Is any flower in the garden more powerfully intoxicating thanthe gardenia?
Raising a blossom to the nose and inhaling once can make a strong man swoon.
Credit: Steve Bender
Gardenia is such a classicSouthern plantthat many Southerners assume it originated here.
Traders in the Far East discovered it growing in China, Korea, and Japan.
So sweet were its blooms they decided to bring it back to Europe.
That’s how it got its other common name, “Cape Jasmine.”
(Even though it’s not a jasmine, its scent reminded them of it.)
From Africa, gardenia, not yet given a botanical name, showed up in Europe.
It didn’t like the climate there and was pretty much relegated to growing in hothouses.
Ellis persuaded Linnaeusthe creator of the two-word system for botanical nomenclatureto name the new plant after Garden.
Thus,Gardenia jasminoideswas born.
In 1752, Garden became the first person in the United States to successfullygrow gardeniaoutdoors.
The plant was a big hit.
Let’s address some common concerns.
Q: Leaves on my gardenia are turning yellow and dropping.
A:Probably not.
Even on evergreens, leaves don’t last more than a couple of years.
Old leaves drop and new ones replace them.
Such leaf drop usually happens in spring.
Q: My gardenia hasn’t leafed out yet.
A:Well, since it’s supposed to be an evergreen, that seems likely.
Q: The leaves of my gardenia have turned light yellow with green veins.
Acid soils have plenty of available iron.
Alkaline soils do not.
Q: Why are my gardenia’s leaves turning black?
A:Your gardenias are probably under siege by sucking insectssuch as aphidsor whiteflies.
These bugs secrete a sticky honeydew as they feed.
Black, sooty mold then grows on the honeydew.
Get rid of the bugs and the mold will go too.
Q: How much cold will gardenia take?
However, newer selections offer better cold tolerance.
‘Frostproof’, ‘Kleim’s Hardy’, and ‘Chuck Hayes’ are cold-hardy to 0 degrees.
‘Crown Jewel’ and ‘Pinwheel’ are hardy to -10 degrees.
